This invention relates to apparatus for actuating a bearing packer while supporting a grease containing housing while force is applied through a lever.
Bearing packers of the type having a plastic cup or cylindrical grease containing housing having an open end for receiving a piston carrying a centrally positioned bearing have provided forceful means for actuating the piston to inject grease into the bearing. Such forceful means include a common vise or the hands of the operator which are placed palms down one on top of the other against a compression force applicator carried by the piston. U.S. Pat. Nos. which illustrate such devices include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,168,766, 4,345,667, and 4,405,035.
The expedients described above for delivering force to the piston have proved to be either injurious to the bearing packer, especially the plastic cup, or wasteful of the packing grease. Both are awkward and time consuming. Unless the force of the vise is applied substantially axially with considerable accuracy, there is a tendency to crack the cup or housing. Since the hands obscure the bearing from sight, it is difficult and messy to determine when sufficient grease has been applied.
Additional prior art is illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,178,816, 2,309,820 and 2,729,305 which illustrate the use of vertical stands carrying pivoted arms for applying a vertical force for packing bearings, but no means is provided for positioning and protecting the cup of the bearing packer or for assuring the application of a vertical force thereby.
Accordingly, it is an important object of this invention to provide a simple device for effectively exerting an axial force for operating a bearing packer having a cylindrical grease containing housing.
Another important object of the invention is the provision of a press which is readily disassembled or collapsible for convenient transport.
Still another important object of the invention is to avoid damage to the compressible bearing packers by protecting the plastic cup and providing proper alignment, and to avoid wasting packing grease.